Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Every participant in the hall knew that they had passed the dozens of tests they had been put through to come here. So, the stats didn’t scare them as much. Still, they felt weirdly apprehensive about learning it, as if a great evil would be released should they learn it.

“To begin with, everyone has passed the first competition. All 10,000 pills that needed to be made have been made. All those who failed to do so have already been told of their failure, so all of you who are here are safe, for the foreseeable future,” the Alchemy God announced.

Most people had guessed this already, so they waited for more information.

“Of you, only 30 Saint Alchemists still remain. I must commend those who made it this far. You have proven yourselves amongst these Immortals.”

“So, after disqualifying those who failed, and adding on the Saints, the number of people who remain in the tournament now is 4,825,” he announced.

The words caused a wave of shock and surprise to pass through the people gathered in the room. Another 400 or so who had passed the last time had been disqualified once again.

“4,800 participants is way less than what we expected to have by the end of the third decade of the tournament, but it only serves to show that not everything goes as one plans,” the Alchemy God said. “And, perhaps to our luck, it is a good thing. For we were already planning to drastically cut down on the competitors after this competition.”

Everyone became serious, wondering what he meant. How many more people were going to get disqualified between now and the end?

“So that you can prepare for it, I will now reveal to you what we plan for the next four competitions,” the Alchemy God said, and a panel appeared next to him.

It had a list of 4 things, none of them named, only titled.

Competition 5 had 4,825 next to it, the number of participants that were currently in the hall. It was the competition they were going to take part in tomorrow.

Below that was Competition 6 with nothing next to it. The Alchemy God waved his hands, and the number showed itself.

500

Gasps spread around the room at once at the number shown on the screen. This was worse than the previous times. Only a single person in a group of 10 was going to move on from this round, while the other 9 had to leave.

“That’s… brutal,” Aethersage said, not knowing how else to word his thoughts.

“90%. That’s way more than last time,” Alex said from the side.

“This is getting scary now,” another voiced.

The Alchemy God paused for everyone to react to the number before moving on with the panel. He flicked his wrist, and the third competition on the list revealed what it was.

The Disciple Test.

Next to it, there was once again a number, but not a different one. It was still 500. That confused many of the people.

“I will have to explain here,” the Alchemy God said. “After the 6th competition, we won’t be disqualifying anyone. Everyone who reached here will have a chance to reach the final competition.”

“However, the chance will rely on your disciples.”

“Throughout every competition, your performance is being tracked. You have been getting points based on your performance, which we will not be revealing. The next two competitions will give you some points as well, and so will the Disciples competition.”

“As we have mentioned before, you do not need to have a disciple to reach the final competition, but it will surely help. And then, based on those points, after the Disciple competition is over, we will let you know just who has passed and who has not.”

“I tell you this now, and not after the next competition, to alert those who have been slacking on training their disciples. If you have, you have 20 more years to do your best. Because, depending on how well they perform, it may make or break your chances of—”

The Alchemy God flicked his wrist again, and the number on the fourth and final competition on the list became visible.

“—becoming one of the final 100 participants.”

In just 3 more competitions, the participants were going to get whittled down from 5,000 to a mere 100. And somehow, no one in the room felt that was unfair. Just 100 participants for the final competition just… felt right.

The Alchemy God didn’t have to tell them any of this, but he did. And it helped stoke the flames that were in everyone — the desire to do their best.

“And so, this is your next competition.”

The panel flickered, and ‘Competition 5’ suddenly changed to reveal what it truly was.

Endurance Test.

“This competition won’t be bombastic. It is not there to see how fast you can make a pill, or how many pills you can make. It is there to see how long you can last.”

“An Alchemist’s job is essential, and there will come a time in your future when you cannot rest. You must make pills one after another, with no time to even cultivate. This test is to see how well you do under such pressure.”

“The competition is simple. You will all be brought to the stage at once. The stage is large enough to fit all of you this time, and we’ve prepared it to have all of you make your pills.”

“The pills you will be making won’t have much variety. They will be these 10 pills,” the Alchemy God said, and the panel next to him changed to show 20 different pill names — 10 for Immortals, 10 for Saints.

Alex read the list, and most were average healing pills or antidote pills, something most cultivators had with them at all times.

“And the only thing you have to do to pass this competition is last as long as you can while consistently making the pills.”